


Gone

by KatelynKnight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action, Aliens, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Fights, Fluff, Galra Empire, Gay Keith (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Love, M/M, Missing in Action, Possibly Lotor, Romance, Spatial Anomaly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-08 19:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15250809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatelynKnight/pseuds/KatelynKnight
Summary: There were many unexpected things that happened to Keith, starting with the moment he and the others first found the Blue Lion. One of the said unexpected things was when he had been urgently called back to the Castle of lions by Shiro and Allura only to find out that a certain member of Voltron, one that he was starting to get along with, had been declared missing...gone.~I do not own Voltron or its characters~





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first fan fiction so it may not be the greatest! Regarding the time in which this takes place, I'm not entirely sure to be honest, mainly somewhere around season 4 . Obviously, considering the fact that even season 6 is over at the moment, I am going to stray from the line of events that happened in the show, keeping only certain elements that would hint to it. All in all it's just my take on what would happen to Lance and the others once he is deemed missing. I hope you enjoy it! :)

                 There were countless things Keith had never expected to happen, some of them being him ending up in space and becoming a Paladin of Voltron along with the others, finding out he was half alien, losing Shiro once again, or joining the Blades of Marmora in order to find out more about his mother. He did not expect to be a part of a weird family consisting of his fellow teammates and the two Alteans, nor could he have ever predicted the feelings of closure he was beginning to develop towards a certain overly-confident Cuban. But something that he certainly did not expect or ever want was to receive an alarmed call from his friends telling him to return immediately to the castle-ship for urgent matters.

                Seeing the anxiousness in the eyes of Princess Allura, along with the grim expression on Shiro’s face, Keith wasted no time by asking more questions, quickly informing Kolivan of his need to depart as soon as possible and making his way towards the coordinates that he had received. Something was wrong, he noticed, pushing to go faster. He was tired after a recent mission, but his senses were alert, going over millions of possibilities regarding what could have happened and trying not to think of the worst. Still, his gut feeling was telling him that something was terribly wrong.

                His thoughts had only been further confirmed when he stepped out into the shuttle bay, to be greeted only by Shiro, who looked tired, a frown etched onto his face.

                “Shiro, what happened?” Keith asked, already dreading the answer.

                “I’ll explain to you once we arrive to where the others are,” The Black Paladin stated, a sigh leaving his lips as he guided Keith through the castle’s halls.

                If it wasn’t for the grim atmosphere hanging over the two, Keith would have felt melancholic about walking through the bluish-lighted hallways after what seemed like forever.  Thinking about seeing his teammates in person, he allowed a silver of happiness to worm its way into his heart despite knowing that the situation seemed to be nothing close to a joyous one. It wasn’t until him and Shiro stepped into the Lounge that it dawned upon Keith how stupid he had been to even hope something wasn’t wrong, when in fact everything was.

                The atmosphere was heavy when the two entered, a sense of despair mixed in with one of determination, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Keith had become overly aware of his presence, he wouldn’t have noticed that Lance was nowhere to be seen.

                “Where is Lance?” He asked as soon as the door slid shut behind him and Shiro. At the question, no one seemed to look Keith in the eyes, all of them lowering their heads sadly. When he received nothing as an answer, the former Red Paladin pressed on, his fists clenching and heart hammering wildly inside his chest: “I said WHERE.IS.LANCE?” Keith was emphasizing every word, growing more and more frantic and frustrated with each second that passed.

                “He’s gone,” Pidge whispered to herself.

                “What?” The black haired boy urged, having not heard what the girl muttered.

                “HE’S GONE!” She exclaimed furiously, wiping at the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes.

                Keith felt as if someone had just pulled the rug from under his feet, rendering him to fall face-first into the floor.

 “What do you mean by gone?” He found himself asking, his voice so small that it sounded alien even to him. He was still glued in the same place from when he had entered the room, face not betraying any of his thoughts, except for the clenched fists on either side of his body, their knuckles turning alarmingly white.

                Shiro sighed dejectedly, resting a hand on Keith’s shoulder and guiding him further inside the room.

                “How about you take a seat and we’ll tell you everything?” The Black Paladin smiled in what was supposed to be a comforting way, though Keith had noticed, it didn’t even reach his eyes.

                Narrowing his eyes at the floor, the former Red Paladin nodded his head, choosing to lean against one of the walls instead of sitting next to the other members, his arms crossed over his chest and ready to listen to whatever they had to say. He needed to know what happened while he was gone and what Pidge meant by Lance being ‘gone’, and he needed to know it fast.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of events that happened one week before Keith was called back to the Castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter guys! Hope you all enjoy! I appreciate feedback so please feel free to tell me if you like or not! :D

**_ One week prior: _ **

 

                Though it hasn’t been that long since Keith had joined the Blades, Lance was starting to notice his lack of presence around the Castle; as in he didn’t have anyone left to annoy. Moreover given the fact that Pidge had just recently reunited with her brother, Matt, and they were off somewhere along with Hunk nerding out about  tech stuff that Lance neither understood nor bother to try to, the Cuban teen didn’t want to burst their happy little bubble by poking his nose into their business. It also seemed that Shiro, Allura and Coran were far too preoccupied with matters regarding the Voltron Coalition for him to interrupt, leaving the former Blue Paladin with the options of either sleeping, playing that one video game that they had or trying to bond with Red. 

                There were moments though, when Lance found himself on the training deck, one that would have been otherwise daily occupied by a certain hot-headed half Galra, but was now almost always empty.  So Lance would train whenever he had time to spare, shooting at the bots with precision until he felt satisfied.  He almost missed the moments when he and Keith fought over whom would train at a certain time, ending up by both sharing the deck due to their stubbornness to back down.  Still, the teen thought, he only missed their arguments. There was no way he was missing Mullet himself…

                Pleased with the number of bots that he had defeated, Lance snapped out of his thoughts and ended the training sequence, readying himself for a relaxing shower and a well-deserved nap, when Allura’s voice travelled through the communication system, changing whatever plans he had made.

                “Paladins, report on the Bridge. We have a mission.”

                By the time the announcement was over, Lance was already making his way towards the Control Room, ready for whatever assignment they had. Even if his demeanor would usually be different, the Cuban lately found himself eager to get out there and do something useful for the team. He was starting to feel discouraged with the lack of help that he provided around the Castle ever since Shiro was back and he saw how much faster Allura had improved with Blue, and even after Keith left Lance was only thinking that it would have been better if he returned to being the Red Paladin. After all that was Keith’s job, being impulsive and hot-headed; just perfect for Red, unlike him.

                When entering the room, whatever inner turmoil Lance was having went unnoticed by the other team members, being masked by his ever-present smug face and laid-back posture. But that was what the Cuban wanted, refusing to further burden his friends with whatever insecurities he had, instead choosing to bury them deep down under the façade of ‘Lover-boy Lance’, how Coran had labeled him.

                “Now that we are all gathered,” The Princess started, glancing in Lance’s direction pointedly. “We can begin to discuss the details regarding our newest mission,” She finished in a serious tone, emphasizing the importance of the matter.

                By now, Lance was used to receiving the said pointed looks form Allura, usually a result of him sleeping in late and arriving last when it came to the team meet-ups. He would always shrug them off, but not without feeling a pang of guilt every time it seemed as if he was disappointing his friends.

                “Now as you might have suspected, we have received a distress signal,” Coran began, twirling at his mustache absentmindedly. “It is from a planet called Tyrus, inhabited by the Ilphies and it appears they are currently being attacked by the Galra. You must hurry and aid them in their fight, but beware for the Ilphies are a race cloaked in mysteries and the planet even more so.”

                “Just as Coran said, we have little to none information regarding this race and the planet Tyrus,” Princess Allura chimed in.

                “We’ve done some scans on the planet itself and nothing seems out of the ordinary. Except for one or two anomalies here and there, we might even say that it is quite similar to Earth in regards to its composition,” Pidge read off her computer screen, pushing her glasses up as she finished the explanation.

                “Still, we shouldn’t let our guard down,” Shiro added thoughtfully.

                “So, what’s the plan?” Lance inquired, one eyebrow raised as he leaned casually against Hunk’s shoulder.

                “Actually Lance, I was thinking that you and Hunk could descend onto the planet and fight the Galra that are already there, while the Princess and I create a distraction in order for Pidge and Matt to infiltrate the main battle ship, hack its system and deactivate them.

                Everyone nodded their heads in understatement, readying themselves for the fight as they made their way towards the Lions. Lance was seated inside Red’s cockpit when he let out a breath of relief knowing he was going to finally do something instead of idly sitting around the Castle.

                “Let’s get this party started,” He stated enthusiastically, not knowing what he was going to get himself into.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mission on Tyrus took a turn for the worst when Lance suddenly disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! I really hope you will enjoy it! Please feel free to tell me what you think! :) And for those of you who don't remember how they work: varga=hour; dobash=minute; tick=second (more or less)

**_ Time until the incident: One varga _ **

                Soon after they arrived near the mysterious planet Tyrus, everyone set in motion, eager to do their jobs as swiftly and properly as possible. Allura and Shiro were first to take action, charging towards the Galra ships and providing the distraction needed for both Lance and Hunk to head towards the surface of the planet, but also Pidge and Matt to steadily make their way in the direction of the main ship.

                “Lance, Hunk, you’re going to need to split up and take care of the two Galra bases situated on Tyrus. They are both located on opposite parts of the planet, one north and the other south. The main objective is to deactivate them and protect the residents of the planet,” Coran informed over the communication system.

                “And don’t forget about those anomalies Pidge was talking about. Keep in mind you are basically going on a planet we know almost nothing about, so be on guard. Whenever you feel that something is not right, you have to wait and analyze the situation before taking action,” Shiro added in a stern voice as he attacked a couple of Galra ships that were shooting at him.

                “Unknown planet with weird anomalies, Galra soldiers and possibly cute alien ladies to save; got it!” Lance exclaimed in his usual overly-confident tone, though he wasn’t really in the mood to think about the latter. Still, he had a reputation to maintain.

                A collection of groans and ‘ _Lance…’_ was heard over the COMM’s and the Blue paladin could vividly picture everyone rolling their eyes at his attitude.

                “That aside, I’m going to head north and Hunk, you take south. Is that alright with you buddy?”  Lance inquired in a somewhat more serious tone.

                “Okay,” Hunk agreed. “And Lance, be careful,” He added before flying his lion in the opposite direction from the Cuban teen.

                “When am I not careful?” Lance murmured to himself as he went his way, though the correct question should have been when was he ever careful?

**_ Time until the incident: Twenty dobashes _ **

                “Lance, Hunk, what are your statuses?” Shiro’s voice could be heard over the intercom.

                “I’m almost done here. There doesn’t seem to be any hostages either,” Hunk informed.

                “Good. Lance, how are you doing?” The Black Paladin asked.

                “I’m going to need some more time. Apparently Red decided to throw a tantrum on me and refused to go near the base, so I am currently advancing on foot. Up until now nothing seems out of the ordinary out here. It’s weirdly quiet,” Lance answered glancing around the building and noting the lack of Galra soldiers or sentries.

                “That sounds a bit odd. Remain focused and alert, it might be a trap. Hunk, when you finish on your part head over to Lance’s side just to be sure,” Shiro instructed.

                “I got it!” Hunk agreed as he sped up in dealing with matters where he was.

                “You lot just hang on for a while. Pidge and Matt seem to have nearly deactivated the system. When they are done we will assist in aiding you,” Allura added reassuringly.

                “No worries Princess, this Sharpshooter is going to take care of everything,” Lance stated flirtatiously, though his mind was somewhere else. Knowing that Allura most probably just rolled her eyes at him, he concentrated on the fact that the base he was currently infiltrating in was way too empty; as in empty, empty. No sound of footsteps could be heard either, just an eerie silence.

                ‘Weird,’ Lance thought to himself as he continued to look around the hallways. Rather than feeling relieved about the lack of Galra, he was tense and uneasy, a sense of danger creeping slowly into his mind. But instead of taking into consideration his fears, the Cuban decided to continue on, their mission more important than his petty insecurities. Only soon did he realize how he should have gotten out of there the instant he noticed something was wrong.

**_ Time until the incident: Two dobashes _ **

                “Guys, me and Matt are done here,” Pidge’s voice informed triumphantly.

                “Good job you two. Coran, you can bring the castle closer, we’ll go and help Hunk and Lance on Tyrus,” Allura instructed as she and Shiro started heading towards the aforementioned planet.

                “Understood, Princess!” Coran complied.

                “I just finished here and I’m ready to assist Lance,” Hunk stated.

                “There’s no need. I just reached the control-room of this thing, and there is no trace of Galra on the entire base,” Lance spoke as he placed the, now his, red bayard on the panel next to him while he inspected another one, trying and failing to understand what it said.

                “How is that possible?” The Princess wondered aloud.

                “That’s right; the other base was definitely not empty. Be careful buddy, something doesn’t seem okay,” The Yellow paladin voiced his concerns.

**_ Forty ticks _ **

                “Hunk is correct. Lance, you should be careful. There is definitely something wrong going on,” Shiro warned as him and all the others urged their lions to move faster in Lance’s direction.

                “I know,” The former Blue paladin mumbled.

**_ Thirty ticks _ **

                “Team, we have a problem. Or more like, Lance you have one,” Pidge began in an uneasy tone as Matt leant over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

                “What’s wrong Pidge?” Shiro questioned quickly.

                “My scanners are going haywire. They are picking up this crazy activity coming from Tyrus, more precisely, from the exact spot where Lance is right now,” The girl informed, sending the results over to the other lions.

                “What is happening?” Lance questioned, his unease only growing with each moment.

                “The anomalies I’ve told you about; it seems that a huge one is concentrating right where you are,” Pidge told him, dread evident in her voice.

**_ Ten ticks _ **

                “The Green Paladin is not wrong. Lance, you must leave that perimeter seeing as we are unfamiliar with those phenomena and what they are capable of,” Coran’s voice interjected.

                “Coran is right. You have to leave that base now. Get to your lion and we’ll regroup in a safe place, understood Lance?” The Black paladin ordered urgently, fearing for the life of his teammate.

**_ Zero _ **

                “I got-” Lance’s voice began but was suddenly interrupted by static.

                “Lance?” Hunk questioned frantically. Yet, no response came; only the haunting sound of static continued over the intercom.

                “Lance? Pidge, what happened?” Shiro requested an answer.

                “Lance’s signal suddenly vanished. He’s…gone,” The girl answered sadly, not believing her own eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's reaction after finding out what had happened to Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the new chapter!I hope you like it. Regarding updates, I will try to do them once a week for now. Anyway, that's it. Enjoy!

_**Present day:** _

        "So you mean to tell me that it has already been a week and you still haven't found him?!" Keith inquired furiously. He had patiently listened to the story, barely containing his temper that told him to lash out at his former teammates for their lack of competence in searching.

        Shiro, knowing him for a long time, was easily able to pick out his thoughts from the way Keith was glaring at them the whole time they spoke about the incident. He couldn't help but let out a sigh before speaking up.

        "We understand how you're feeling Keith; we are also frustrated about this situation but there's nothing we can do," The Black Paladin said slowly.

        "Shiro is correct. The moment we saw that the anomaly had passed, we went to investigate. There was no trace of Lance anywhere," Princess Allura added, finally looking Keith in the eyes.

        Hearing Allura's words only seemed to add fuel to the fire of anger burning deep inside of Keith. Though he knew well enough how annoying Lance could get sometimes, the half Galra was also aware of how indispensable he was to Voltron and the team itself; so how could they wait even a second knowing that something had happened to him?

        "You actually waited instead of going to check on him right away?" Keith gritted out, his voice low and seeming devoid of emotions despite the anger coursing through his veins. At this comment everyone seemed to flinch slightly as a flash of guilt showed on their faces.

        "We had to make sure that it was safe to go down there. Who knows what the anomaly would have done to us and the lions. We couldn't risk the integrity of Voltron on a rash decision. For all we knew, it might have been only the communication system that was affected so we waited for it to pass," Allura spoke after a long pause, her tone firm and unwavering.

        "You speak of the 'integrity of Voltron' but what about the Red Lion?" Keith replied tightly.

        "The Red Lion wasn't in the range of the anomaly; Lance had walked on foot quite some way until he reached that base. It's currently back in the hangar along with the rest of the Lions,"Shiro decided to cut in, distracting Keith from glaring at the Altean Princess.

        "So what exactly happened with him?" Keith questioned softening his glare upon looking at the Black Paladin.

        "We don't exactly know either," Pidge finally spoke up. "By the time we reached the control room of the base, there was no trace of Lance. We did find his bayard laying on one of the panels, but nothing else," She finished, her voice holding traces of frustration and anger.

        "It's my fault. If I would have finished faster with the other base, something like this wouldn't have happened to Lance," Hunk stated, his usual cheerfulness nowhere to be seen.

        "It wasn't your fault Hunk. Pidge already told us that the anomaly was a phenomena caused by the planet; there was nothing we could do to stop it even if we tried," Shiro said in a comforting voice, his eyes resting on Keith by the time he finished speaking.

        Keith didn't seem to fully register what was being said, his mind going a hundred miles per hour thinking about the whole situation. It was weird, compared to the moment he decided to part with the others in order to pursue his training with the Blades, he didn't feel particularly sad, only a bit dejected by the thought of being away from his newly acquired family; but now he felt awful. Sure, it was Lance that went missing so it didn't feel the same as when Shiro was the one going MIA, but still he was there with the others when Keith needed support.

        "What about the inhabitants of the planet? Weren't they able to provide any answers about the anomalies?" The former Red Paladin questioned snapping out of his thoughts.

        "That is another unsettling matter. For the past few quintents we have been searching the surface of the planet but on top of not finding any Ilphies, we didn't even find the tiniest trace of anyone living on Tyrus," Coran piped in, twirling his mustache while slightly frowning.

        "Pidge and Matt are currently running a more in-depth scan on the undergrounds of Tyrus. We hope to maybe find people living under there that might be able to help, but it will take a while. We are also keeping a close eye on the anomalies, looking out for whenever a huge one might happen again; but so far nothing happened," Shiro explained.

        "That leads us to the main reason as to why we have called you here today," Allura spoke up, gaining Keith's attention.

        The raven-haired teen tensed in anticipation. For whatever reason, Keith felt that he wouldn't like what the Princess was going to say.

        "You need to take Lance's place in piloting the Red Lion," The Altean stated, her voice stern and unwavering, signaling the finality of the decision.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry for the delay in updating...it can only be blamed on my laziness. Anyway this is the new chapter and I do hope that the slow burn does not bore you as much as I am afraid it does, but I like to have a context to the story and the love so I'll bore you some more...sorry! Still, enjoy! 

                 In spite of himself, Keith would have actually started downright laughing at Allura’s words; if it wasn’t for the fact that she looked more than serious when speaking them. Still, it took him some time to register the demand, somehow expecting Lance to pop out of nowhere at any second, making fun of the half Galra for believing his prank. But it didn’t happen, and only then did Keith realize the gravity of the situation; only then did Allura’s words struck a nerve, unleashing his hot temper.

                “What?” He asked incredulously, his voice low and brows furrowed in a deep frown. To be honest, Keith wanted to yell but the time spent with the Blades of Marmora contributed to his self-control; yet that did nothing to hide his biting tone.

                “I…no, **_we_** need you to pilot Red again. Voltron has to be formed in order to defeat the Galra Empire, and it cannot be done without the Red Lion. And now that Lance is no longer here, you are our only hope,” The princess spoke, seeming to ignore Keith’s murderous glares.

                As for the former Red Paladin, he was becoming more and more infuriated with the Altean’s words. She was clearly behaving as if Lance was already dead and she quickly needed to find a replacement for him. Was that how much their lives amounted to her when faced with the bigger picture of peace in the Universe?

                Seeming to understand Keith’s thoughts, Shiro quickly interjected, trying to lessen the tension between the two former teammates.

                “It’s only going to be temporary, until we find Lance. I know how much you value the training and missions you have with the Blades, but we cannot risk Voltron now. If we don’t have a pilot for the Red Lion we’ll be vulnerable to Galra attacks and that is not an option, not when Lotor is lurking out there waiting for an opportunity to attack. When we find Lance everything will go back to how it was before, so don’t worry,” The Black Paladin advised resting a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.

                “ ** _If_** we find Lance…” Hunk murmured sadly to himself; however, the others also heard him.

                Choosing not to dwell on the Yellow Paladin’s words, Keith resumed glaring at Allura, albeit not as intensely as before; courtesy of Shiro’s calming words.

                “Fine,” The black-haired teen started tightly. “But our main objective is finding Lance so there won’t be any diplomatic meetings until then. Even if there are, I won’t go to them no matter how hard you try to convince me,” He finished, switching his gaze between the Altean Princess and the Black Paladin as if trying to make his point clear: there was no room for discussing it further.

                Shiro gave an ‘Alright’ as a response while Allura only nodded her head, a bit displeased with the arrangements but finding them reasonable nonetheless.

                “Now that everything is settled, I do believe that you, my boy Keith, are in need of some rest. Go on, head down to your old room and take a nap. Once you’re well and rested we’ll inform Kolivan about the new arrangements and then we can bounce right back to searching for Lance. How does that sound?” Coran spoke up in his usual tone, though not quite as cheery as normal.

                Keith silently agreed, knowing how much his body needed sleep at that moment but also being well aware that it won’t be easy to rest with all the thoughts running through his head. Settling for at least trying to get some shut-eye, the teen nodded in recognition to his friends as he exited the room, letting the door slide shut behind him.

                Making his way down the hallways towards his old room once again left Keith with the same sense of nostalgia he felt earlier that day, though it was muted by many other feelings, one being anger; at himself, Lance or the others, he was not sure. Only once the door to his room glided open, did reality hit Keith like a freight train as his eyes zoomed on his Red Paladin armor hung on one of the walls. He also couldn’t help but notice the object sitting on his bed: his bayard, the one that was supposed to be with Lance but it was instead right there in front of him.

                Keith’s feet carried him towards the bed, and as he picked up the bayard there was a sense of recognition when holding it, though overpowered by the difference in color against the teen’s dark suit; it felt wrong. He stared at the weapon for what felt like ages thinking about how just a week prior it was in Lance’s hands, but now it was in his.

Resting his back against the wall, the Red Paladin wondered how he got into that situation. He kind of expected Lance to do something stupid during a mission, but he would have never guessed that he’d go missing like that. Yet, Keith thought, why did he get so worked up earlier? It was obvious that the Cuban was one of his friends, stupid rivalry aside, and he also helped Keith when Shiro went missing the second time; still, he never realized how much Lance had grown on him.

                Leveling a breath of air, the half Galra clenched his hand tighter against the handle of his bayard, promising to himself that he’d do whatever he can in order to make sure that it would get back in Lance’s hands, where it rightfully belonged.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get some insight on Keith's thoughts regarding a certain Cuban and also the location of the Ilphies is finally found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we are, new chapter. Next time we'll find out more about the mysterious Ilphies and hopefully about the weird anomalies that caused the disappearance of Lance, so stay tuned. But until then, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

                Two weeks. It had already been two weeks since Keith temporarily took Lance’s place as the Red Paladin, and they still had no idea what had happened to their teammate. It was frustrating to say at least; especially for Keith. Across the duration of the said time, they had to fend off a number of Galra attacks, but nothing that couldn’t have been handled without the Red Lion. Hence, a certain hot-headed teen was becoming impatient.

                Keith always hated being out of touch with what was happening, thus the sudden disappearance of Lance left him feeling uneasy in regards to the Cuban’s wellbeing. He blamed it on Shiro’s tendency to go missing causing him some kind of PTSD.  Moreover, Pidge’s and Matt’s discovery after decrypting the data from both bases added on to the uneasiness. Apparently, the Galra had gone to Tyrus for a reason; something regarding the proprieties of the planet being optimal for a big project that they did not go in detail about.  It was unnerving not knowing what they plotted and even more unsettling thinking that whatever happened to Lance might have been what they intended all along.

                The half Galra let out a groan, banging his head softly against the shiny surface of Red’s paw as his back rested against it. He had needed a break from the entire situation, and after training for the second time that day with no results of taking his mind off of Lance, Keith resorted himself to going into the hangar to sit with Red. The teen felt grateful that the Lion had not completely severed their bond when he was assigned to pilot Black and was now happy to be reunited with her, though he would have preferred it happening in other circumstances.

                He missed Red, thus Keith decided to spend some time with her while trying to evade reality, but what he didn’t expect was for the said Lion to flood his mind with thoughts about the exact boy he was trying not to think about.  Granted, the onslaught of images was a perfect distraction from Keith’s own imagination that orbited around the thought of Lance being strapped to a metal table while mercilessly tortured by Galra.

                “I thought you didn’t like him,” Keith teased after Red showed him some of Lance’s silly doings. He kind of missed seeing the Cuban’s antics.

                 A rumble traveled through Keith’s mind as if saying ‘I don’t’, though the tone seemed light yet stubborn; just like a child.

                “Sure doesn’t seem like it,” The half Galra chuckled when the Lion let out a childish ‘humph!’ in response. “We really are alike, you and I,” Keith added, a small smile etched onto his face as he thought about how once, when Shiro pointed out to him that he liked Lance, he had acted the exact same way; earnestly denied it. Though he knew that Shiro completely meant it in a platonic way, at that time Keith wasn’t even entertaining the idea of ever becoming friends with the Cuban, as the latter seemed to be obsessed with the thought of them being sworn rivals.

                Now that Keith thought about it, what was his current relationship with Lance? He considered the others some type of weird family, but Lance’s place always seemed to be kind of in the air. With time, their initial fights evolved into occasional playful banter that could only be considered harmless and quite friendly; even more so Keith would sometimes crack a smile at the Cuban’s cheesy jokes. All in all, he lately found Lance’s company to be quite enjoyable, seeing as the teen was not as obnoxious as he led others to believe. Lance was a good person, Keith decided; a good friend.  Red let out a rumble in agreement.

                For who knows how long, the half Galra continued to sit there exchanging thoughts about the former Blue Paladin with Red, comforting her when she blamed herself for not being able to properly convey to Lance that at the time she refused to advance further  because she felt something was wrong. Their conversation came to an abrupt stop when Allura’s voice requested them to gather in the Control Room for an announcement.

                Before he knew it, Keith had already gotten up, bid farewell to Red and hurriedly started making his way down the many hallways leading to his destination. Whatever the announcement was going to be, it surely had something to do with Lance or at least the planet’s situation. Upon entering the room, the teen quickly spotted his teammates gathered in front of a huge screen, so he headed their way, stopping next to Hunk. During the past days Keith had spoken more with the boy, seeing as he was the most affected by Lance’s disappearance, and he tried to cheer him up; though if you ask him, Keith wasn’t the best at lifting up people’s spirits, Lance was way better.

                Sending what he thought would be a reassuring look at Hunk from the corner of his eye, the half Galra directed his attention to the screen in front of him; one that showed the image of some kind of map. Narrowing his eyes, he inspected the numerous green dots sprinkled on the map, some individual and other forming one big splotch of green almost in the middle. People, Keith realized as he let out an inaudible gasp at the revelation.

                “Those are the results of the underground scan on Tyrus. As you might have already noticed, we finally found where the Ilphies are. Our next objective is gathering as much information from them as we can,” Shiro spoke up and everyone agreed in a somewhat more upbeat tone. They were getting closer to figuring out what happened; getting closer to finding Lance.  It was time for some answers.

 

 


End file.
